p stands for private pork room and potentially hazardous to your faith

tonight we enjoyed bangers and mash, washed down with lovely kilkenny...

that involved pork and alcohol... all we needed was some gambling for the perfect non-muslim trifecta...

abayas and home internet...

let the fun and dualling laptops begin!!! finally we have home internet in the villa...

hope everyone is having fun in canada, apparently there is a little rain right now??? :) the nights here have been great, everyone comes out when it gets cooler in the evening, and enjoys the lower temps... it has been getting cooler, even since i have been here, but still around 35 degrees mid day, around 95 degrees fahrenheit i think...

we just bought a bbq and patio set, we have a little shared 3rd floor terrace with space for an outdoor patio set and bbq... we had a great drink night with everyone bringing a mexican dish the other night, about 20 of lorien's teaching friends came out... everyone brought a chair, and we hung out in the downstairs courtyard, not a bad night... apparently there will be a halloween party at one of the other apartment villas on the weekend... might be a little too crazy for us though, they are having a wet abaya contest!! :)

speaking of which, i have learned a bit more about abayas while living here... wearing the veil fully covered, or just having the seductive eyes showing, or showing their face completely, all of this is more fashion choice than anything... but when the women all get together, with no men around, like in lorien's school, they shed all their outer layers... i have to mention though, with so many nationalities and cultures here, especially even between one muslim country and another, and other countries who are not muslim, there is a mix of styles between all the women, local or ex pat or otherwise...
a good source of faq's is http://www.ask-ali.com/

not much on the travelling front yet, still trying to get organized in the house... probably going to do day trips to dubai or sharjah first... then further like oman, then maybe egypt... hope everyone is doing well, looking forward to seeing people in feb and march and the other cooler months!!

random stuff about my new job, and Etisalat is the bain of my UAE existence...

so most of you know from facebook that i took the job at the new holiday inn abu dhabi...

i am liking the experience i am gaining, and the people are great here... 30 different nationalities work at the hotel..
i am the only canadian, but there is also an american, and a couple english and australian...

there are a few from each country, but only one or two from places like holland, russia, mexico, france, etc... there are several from egypt and syria, and the rest are either indian, sri lankan, or filipino...
the cafeteria is a mix of languages!!! mainly arabic,indian,filipino,english...

the beauty as well is that we celebrate all cultures, especially when it comes to food!!! there is always a variety of foods from india, phillipines, and arabic/lebanese food... this is the highlight of my day, tasting many, many different dishes, all free... i love spicy and flavourful foods, so this has been a great experiment of various dishes...
and right now, the management are testing the restaurant food before the guests arrive next week, so it is a real treat!!!
i would name a lot of the different dishes, but you get the idea :)

everyone has a great command english here as well, with varying degrees of fluency...
several staff have multiple languages, with one of my external guards who is from nepal, who knows 8 languages, he is a great asset to have...

right now, i am working 12 hour days trying to help get the hotel ready for the opening... my boss is egyptian and a nice guy, so it has been a good experience...


what else??? i will take pics soon, but still no internet at home... i am using the hotel internet at work, but once we have home internet, we will post pics here and on facebook...

Around here, Etisalat is now a curse word!!!

stray cats and roosters...

just a short blurb today... still no home internet, so i am at the ADNEC business centre using the wifi... 25 dihrams for 2 hours... home internet might be awhile, because we are in a new villa, which has no home phones or internet cable installed yet...

so besides looking for work, i am taking tinsley to the local park, and making sure he doesn't get attacked by the dozens of stray cats... everywhere... and we have a neighbour who has roosters, which like to start singing about 3am... then the 445am call to prayer, which is lovely but always wakes me up (lorien sleeps right through it now after 2 months)...

joined a flag football league for expats, run by a couple of local american guys... first game is wednesday, on a artificial turf field with the grand mosque in the background, all lit up at nightime when we play, pretty cool... duplays.com we are the dead horse ( Cuz you can't beat a dead horse!!! i didn't make it up, what can i say!!)

our villa is made up of all of lorien's teacher friends, and a few of their pets... mainly american, canadian, and british...

pics to follow soon, but first i need work... i have one job offer, and asst safety manager at a hotel nearby ( we are living in the embassy area) but it is not as much money as i want, so i might hold out for better... you can only change jobs twice, then you have to leave the country for 6 months, so it might be better to find something i really like first...

more to come soon... oh yeah, the drivers here are crazy, like montreal and vancouver drivers times 10!!

Waiting, sweetheart... waiting...

Air Canada, once again being a frustrating pain in the ass...

i am sitting here thinking of the scene in ocean's 11 where the mormon twins are at the race track in utah...

waiting, sweetheart.



-Good. Go.



-I'm waiting.- Why?



-You're like a little girl!



I'm going to get out and drop you like third-period French.


i am sitting in toronto right now, about to enjoy 13 hours of flying, after enduring 4.5 hours to toronto...



i want to thanks air canada for making booking in such a pain... first not finding my booking reference, then calling someone who knew what they were doing, then punching in my e-tix, and that actually found me!!




and then, after charging me for overweight ( thanks for the C/C Dad...) she says i am over the maximum overweight...


" do you not realize that both bags are leaning on the scale right now???"


"ooops..."


so i get to toronto, and go to the wrong terminal... apparently there is so much international travel they split it up between two terminals, hmmm...

etihad airways rocks!! all she did was give me a mild rebuke for the baggage being over... "make sure for next time!!" " me-no problem!!"

a couple of quick shout outs before i forget...

many thanks to animal travel, and my eagle ridge vet clinic, for all their help getting tinsley ready for his flight... he arrived happy, and that made lorien happy, which makes me happy... i will send photos from the UAE with all of us...

thanks canada, it has been fun... next post from overseas...